this is a weekly feature in which i select ten phenomenal literature deviations that have recently caught my eye. if you have been featured, please this journal and read the other works. now, onto the main event—

"rows of jars, neat shelves and every aislemopped hourly, a pert teenager standing to scanyour bottles and bottles of wine--I thought about youloitering in the toothpaste section, breathing in the glossand promise of it, while the long hours before close sidled"

"But hey, at least there's an upside to this whole mess: I'm down six stone — in one case, literally! — and that godforsaken gut is gone. Go locate any statue of me, place your hand on my toga, and check out that slab of solid marble. Want to know what my big secret is?"